Chapter 173: How Ignorant
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: How Ignorant
“What do you mean, you want my shadow?”
At Sion’s question, Arachne Arad gave a thin smile.
“Exactly what I said. Your shadow is exceptionally dark. And deep. I want that space. A place where I can escape the Curse of the Sun and hide from the eyes of this world.”
As soon as Arad finished speaking, Sion’s shadow stretched out long.
The more the light emitted by the Hypercube intensified, the more Sion’s shadow flickered and surged.
“Hide from the eyes of this world?”
“That is the crux of it. Let us perform a Shadow Binding. We shall weave your shadow and mine together. I will become your familiar, and you shall become my protector.”
“Familiar and protector… What exactly am I supposed to be protecting you from?”
“My mother. From my mother.”
“Pardon?”
Sion was baffled by Arad’s answer. Running away from one’s mother?
“I need to get my head around this.”
Sion withheld his answer. Since this seemed like a deep entanglement, he couldn’t readily agree to hand over his shadow.
“Rien, what do you think? About this Shadow Binding thing.”
“Shadow Binding… If it’s what I think it is…”
“Yes? If it is?”
“It’s likely sorcery… and a very ancient kind at that.”
Rien began to explain hesitantly.
“Shadow Binding is a ritual used to turn someone into a slave.”
“A slave?”
“Yes. You weave each other’s shadows together and set a conditional contract. If one party fails to fulfill the contract, the defaulter becomes the other’s slave.”
“So this spider was trying to make me her slave just now?!”
“I’m not sure. Humans used it that way among themselves… but it works differently between monsters and humans.”
Rien explained the ritual of Shadow Binding by synthesizing various oral traditions and old wives' tales she had picked up during her life as a witch.
“You capture a monster that lacks intelligence, then use Shadow Binding half-forcibly… You give the monster a task it can never possibly achieve, and then you turn it into a familiar.”
“And then?”
“Then you can control the monster as a familiar. But the important thing is the entity at the center of this Shadow Binding ritual.”
“There’s a third party involved?”
“Yes. Most sorcery isn't a system of spells that holds power in and of itself. The basic framework involves calling out to a being superior to humans and receiving their help to manifest a miracle.”
“Aha.”
“Because of that, most sorcerous acts are just ways of speaking to higher beings; the ritual itself doesn't hold the meaning.”
“Then Shadow Binding must also be… asking a favor from a higher-dimensional being.”
Arad, who had been listening to the conversation between Sion and Rien, wiped her face with a hand and interjected.
“No, it is not a slave contract… How much do you two actually know about the darkness?”
“If you’re asking how much I know about darkness, I don’t have much to say. Darkness is just darkness.”
“You truly do not understand darkness at all. Darkness is everywhere. It is in the Labyrinth, and it is on the Surface. Even when you close your eyes, darkness finds you. My kin worship darkness itself. We worship the darkness that hides our hideous forms and grants us the comfort of the night.”
“Are we pivoting to a religious discussion now?”
“It is not so much religion as it is the fact that there are those who worship the darkness. And in Shadow Binding, Darkness itself stands before us as the notary. Darkness has various attributes: concealment, falsehood, secrets, and so on. Humans used this aspect to twist Shadow Binding into a method of enslavement. We are different. We worship the darkness.”
Arad corrected Rien’s misconceptions. However, the seeds of doubt had already been planted in Sion’s mind.
“So you’re saying your version of Shadow Binding is different? In the end, it’s still a ritual where one side becomes a slave.”
“No. That only happens when one side is overwhelmingly powerful—when they force a contract with impossible conditions to make the other a slave. But you and I are equals.”
“You and me?”
“Yes. You have three Roas behind you, and your eyes hold a Spiritual Eye that can pierce through the world. I consider that more than enough to view our relationship as one of equals.”
“Aha. I suppose so.”
“Furthermore, your soul and body are already full to the brim. Therefore, I have no choice but to target a niche market. And that is your shadow…”
“Wait, why are you targeting my niche market? Miss Arachne, your words are too difficult for me. Please explain it kindly, like you’re teaching a child. What are you doing, trying to deal with a total ignoramus like this?”
“...You are remarkably proud of your own ignorance, aren't you?”
Arad was taken aback by Sion’s bold demand for a simpler explanation.
He was different from the ordinary humans of this world. He wasn't particularly afraid of her appearance; in fact, he acted as if he could win if they fought.
It was only natural. Unlike the people of this world, for whom monsters were objects of terror, Sion was from Earth and had seen countless such grotesque creatures in the media.
He wasn't going to be shocked by something like an Arachne. A half-human, half-spider Arachne was a staple of fantasy games, after all.
“I honestly do not know where to begin. Do you even know what direction your destiny is heading?”
“No.”
“What, do humans these days not even consult astrology?”
“Tarot seems to be the trend in the Labyrinth City lately.”
“Gwaaaaah!!! What do you mean, Tarot?!”
Finally, the Arachne clutched her head in frustration.
“I mean, don't you look at the stars? You, witch. Don't you?”
“Well… there are fortune tellers, but… they don't really do professional astrology these days…?”
“...The world is ending. How can a hero destined to save the world have no basic knowledge of astrology? How can one with the fate of a hero be so unaware of his own value? And to have almost zero knowledge of Shadow Binding… No, what is this? Just sign the contract and let’s do the Shadow Binding. I will teach you everything slowly.”
Sion flatly refused Arad’s blatant demand for a contract, finding her "I'm too tired to explain" attitude absurd.
“Don’t try to lead me into this so naturally. The risks haven't been fully revealed yet, and you haven't even told me what I stand to gain from it.”
From Sion’s perspective, knowing nothing, it was a natural thought. From Arad’s perspective, not knowing that Sion had truly come to her knowing nothing except for Olivia’s directions, it was maddening.
“Ugh. I’ll tell you everything. First, upon the contract’s completion, I become your familiar. That is the condition. That means you will be able to give me orders. And I will use your shadow as my nest to hide from my mother’s eyes, and I can raise you to become the hero who will hunt my mother.”
“I have to fight your mother? See! It was a trap!”
“No!!! Of course you have to fight her! My mother is the Demon King of the 7th floor. Aren't you on your way to save the World Tree right now? Seriously, do you know nothing!?”
“How do you know I’m going to save the World Tree!?”
“Argh! Because your destiny is linked to me and my mother, so I have no choice but to know! I mean, do you people really know nothing about the Arachne?”
“How should I know? You’re the only Arachne I’ve ever met.”
“What? There isn't a single Arachne outside the Labyrinth?”
“I haven't seen any.”
“I said our conversation wasn't lining up, but to think not a single one is left. No proper astrologers, either. What a wretched age. Truly wretched.”
Watching the lamenting Arad, Sion organized his thoughts.
“So, to summarize, I’m destined to kill a Demon King, and it just so happens that one of those Demon Kings is your mother. And you assumed I came looking for you because I already knew that.”
“Correct. I naturally assumed you approached me knowing of the existence of myself and my mother. Since you kept searching for me, I thought it was obvious.”
Sion had only sought out the Arachne to enter the Spider’s Den, just as Olivia had told him.
He wanted to enter the actual dungeon, the ‘Spider’s Den,’ not the nest she had currently built.
“But based on what you’ve said, the structure is that you become my familiar through Shadow Binding and help me. So why did you speak of Shadow Binding as if it were something beneficial to you?”
“Because there are clear advantages for me if I become your familiar through Shadow Binding.”
Arad no longer had the energy to hide or conceal anything. She realized it was easier to just tell him everything and let him choose.
“And what are those?”
“First, I can take up residence in your shadow and even go up to the Surface.”
“And?”
“I can share a certain amount of the mana you obtain when you kill monsters. It makes molting or evolution possible. That is what I was aiming for.”
“You were trying to freeload…!”
“Freeload?”
“I mean you were trying to get a free ride.”
“I should receive at least that much compensation. You said you could grant any condition.”
He had indeed promised to grant any condition he could fulfill.
“I did say that.”
“And ultimately, if we perform Shadow Binding, I will not be bound by your Spirit Chain. My freedom to die when I wish to die will be guaranteed. In short, Shadow Binding was the best means for me to protect myself against you.”
She was afraid of her soul being bound to Sion after death.
From Arad’s perspective, Helena and Freya appeared to be unable to die, being worked like slaves by him.
“The contract terms are as follows: I will help you until you kill my mother. Once you kill her, our contract is automatically voided. I will no longer be your familiar, and we shall go our separate ways.”
“That’s quite clean. You’re not planning to scam me with this Shadow Binding, are you?”
“Not at all. I simply didn't realize you were this ignorant. If you’re worried, let’s go to the stone pillars and have the Three Villainesses stand as notaries.”
“Fine. Let’s do that. By the way, what is your name?”
“It is Arad. I have no surname. Just call me Arad.”
And so, the contract between Sion and the Arachne Arad was established.
Sion was pleased to have gained new knowledge, and Arad was satisfied because she could now stably coexist with humans. It was a mutually beneficial result.
From Arad’s perspective, the 5th floor was becoming an increasingly difficult place to live.
To her, the 5th floor had been the most ideal location. It was reasonably spacious, and the level of the monsters was low.
On the 6th floor, the existing monsters were too strong for her to live comfortably, and on the 7th floor, her mother was there, so she had no way to endure.
That was why she had struggled to crawl up to the 5th floor, only to find that even the 5th floor was on the verge of being occupied by humans.
In the midst of that, Sion had come to her of his own accord, so she was inwardly cheering.
Unlike Prodo, who at least had a cute side and could be passed off as a beastman, Arad looked like a monster no matter how one viewed her.
“So, now, about how you can handle Abilities.”
Sion held the now-shrunken Arad in the palm of his hand.
By becoming Sion’s familiar through Shadow Binding, Arad was able to reduce her size. By nesting in Sion’s shadow, she had shrunk to the size of a palm.
“Currently, the Abilities you possess are Subspace Pocket, Map Creation, Spiritual Eye Opening, and Spirit Chain.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Don't you use all of them?”
“I use them all quite well.”
“Then… first, there must be an Ability you don't use. You could call it a rank, perhaps. It is possible to grind down an Ability of similar brightness to further strengthen another.”
“Is that really true?”
“You can grind down useless Abilities to turn them into more useful ones. It is also possible to extract an Ability and transfer it.”
“Is there no limit to how many times I can do it?”
“If you exceed a certain number of times, the Ability in question might be deleted.”
“Aha… even so, that’s incredibly broken.”
Sion was amazed by Arad’s limitless potential.
If used well, he could rearrange jumbled Abilities to specialize someone into a specific profession.
“This is a new business item.”
Sion thought of the countless adventurers who were miserable because of useless Abilities.
He also thought of those like Olivia, who had developed disabilities or problems because of their Abilities.
What if he could start a business targeting such people?
“Curses can be removed at the Cathedral, but Abilities couldn't be removed. I could take money from wealthy adventurers or put out commissions.”
“Your mind certainly works fast in that direction.”
Arad felt a chill as she watched Sion busily racking his brain, already plotting how to fleece the adventurers.